Plant flat-collapsible-containers made of thin thermally sealable film are well-known. These containers, when empty and laid on a horizontal surface, lie flat. The containers generally have a trapezoidal shape. The containers when opened provide a cavity which is used to house plants. The containers when housing plants take on a three-dimensional frustoconical shape. As used herein, the term "plants" or "plants" is used in its broadest sense and includes anything falling within the plant kingdom, including flowers, cut flowers and potted plants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,695, Gilbert, discloses an example of a plant flat-collapsible-container. The container is made of two thin film panels. The panels are heat sealed together, one on top of the other, along the container's equally angulated sides. The container, when empty, lies flat and has a trapezoidal shape. The panels are also heat sealed along the bottom end of the container. The top edges of each panel are freely separable to form the mouth of the container. The container thus forms a flower bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,234, de Klerk, shows another plant flat-collapsible-container. The container is also made from two thin film panels. The sides of each panel are also heat sealed along the container's equally angulated sides. The bottom edges of each panel are not necessarily sealed. Thus cut-flower stems can exit from the bottom of the container. A container with an unsealed bottom is known as a flower sleeve.
In de Klerk, one of the container panels has a top edge which protrudes beyond the top edge of the other container panel. The protruding part of the one container panel is perforated to create a tear line. When the containers are packed for dispensing, they are clamped together along the protruding part of the one container panel. The containers are then dispensed by tearing them from the plurality of containers, one by one, along the tear line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,267, Witte, also describes a plant flat-collapsible container. The container also has a trapezoidal shape. The container is also made of two thin film panels which are also heat sealed one on top of the other. The panels are heat sealed only along the container's equally angulated sides. One of the container panels has a protruding top edge which can be folded over and adhesively sealed to the other container panel. Thus a user, after filling the container, can close the container by folding the protruding top edge of the one panel over the other panel.
Gilbert further discloses an example of how to make plant flat-collapsible-containers. The containers are made by intermittently advancing, in timed sequence, two webs. The webs are disposed one on top of the other. The webs are formed into containers in a single heat sealing station or multiple stations. In the heat sealing station a hot wire is applied to the two webs to form the side seams and bottom seams of the container. The two webs can be obtained from separate sheets of material or from a single sheet of double-folded material. The containers may be stamped or marked with promotional advertising during manufacture. The patent discloses the following machines as acceptable to perform the method: the Guard 200HS, available from Guard & Associates, Denver Colo.; and the Lemo 850K or 850KS, available from Lemo H. Lehmacher & Son, GmbH, Neiderkassel-Mondorf, Germany.
Known plant flat-collapsible-containers made of thin heat sealable film, once filled, are clumsy and difficult to pick up. The containers do not have a convenient gripping area. Additionally, the promotional material added to the container during manufacture, while useful to a retailer, has no use to a consumer. In fact, many consumers would consider the promotional material to detract from the aesthetic appearance of the container. Also, the promotional material is sometimes difficult to see when the filled containers are displayed, because the filled containers are often arranged in close proximity to one another.
Disposing a conventional handle on the container would aid in the handling. However, the handle would detract from the aesthetic appearance of the sleeve and would complicate manufacturing. Disposing fliers, brochures or posts in the plant would help to facilitate the display of the promotional material by the retailer and permit removal of the promotional material by the consumer. The use of these types of promotional materials, however, has drawbacks. The promotional materials require time-consuming efforts to place on the plants and flowers. Additionally, the promotional materials may fall off the plants during packing and unpacking.